N.E.W. Simple Conversion/Vehicle Combat
This section covers combat in vehicles. Starship Combat Overview Starship and vehicle combat works much like normal combat, with a few differences. * Combat is played out on a hex grid. For ships, each hex equals 1 kilometer. * Initiative is rolled at the start of each round, every round. * A round has no set timespan: it is as long as the DM says it is, case-by-case. * A vehicle may move and take actions during its turn. It moves a number of hexes equal to its Speed. Ships and vehicles larger than Class IV can't make a 180 degree turn. * An NPC or DM-controlled vehicle can take a number of actions per round equal to its Class. Player-crewed vehicles take a number of actions equal to the ship's class, or to the number of players aboard, whichever is higher. If the class is higher, then the ship's non-player crew takes any remaining actions. (Note: each player character only takes ONE action per round.) * A player character can, on their turn, instead of taking an action for the ship, take a single infantry-combat-style turn or perform some other action not included in the list below, at the DM's discretion. This counts as one of the ship's actions for that round. Actions A detailed list of available actions is listed here: * Attack. ''A crewmember fires one shipboard weapon or weapon bank. Alternatively, they may use the vehicle's systems (if available) to ''Jam ''another vehicle's communications, or to make an ''Electronic Attack ''against another vehicle's computer. * ''Evasive Action. ''A pilot of a vehicle may impose disadvantage on all attacks made against the vehicle. This erratic movement causes the vehicle's own attacks to have disadvantage. * ''Divert Shields. ''A player can subtract any amount of the SOAK value of a single shield, and add it to the value of a different shield. This cannot increase a shield past double its default value, and can only be done once per round. * ''Repair. A crewmember makes temporary repairs to the ship's hull with a successful DC 15 LOG (''Engineering) check, or to the ship's computer with a LOG (Computers) check. A success restores 2 HP, or 2 CPU. Alternatively, they can make a DC 15 LOG check to repair 1 shield by 1 point. * ''Use Equipment. ''A crewmember uses the vehicle's equipment (if available) to ''Scan a target, or use a transporter, tractor beam, or other equipment. * Medical. '' If a vehicle has medical facilities, a crewmember can attempt to heal a casualty with a DC 13 LOG (Medicine) check. * ''Launch. ''A fighter squadron or a single shuttle or drone is launched. This can only be done once per round. * ''Spot. A crewmember makes an INT (''Perception) check vs. a target's AC. On a success, all allies aboard the same ship or vehicle gain advantage to hit the target for the rest of the round. Multiple crewmembers may take this action, but no additional benefits are granted from "spotting" the same target multiple times. Attacking Below are the descriptions for how to make a vehicle attack, and the rules associated with each type. * ''Missiles / Torpedoes: Make a LOG (''Gunnery) check vs. the target's Missile AC. See the weapon's stats for damage. Missiles move at 10 hexes per round in space, or 30 hexes per round in atmosphere. * ''Energy / Ballistic: Make an INT (''Gunnery) check vs. the target's AC. See the weapon's stats for damage. Note that Ion weapons deal half their damage to the hull, and the other half to the ship's CPU. * ''Electronic Attack: '' Make a LOG (Computers) check vs. the target's E-Defense. On a success, the ship takes 1d6 CPU damage. * ''Jamming: Make a LOG (''Computers) check vs. the target's E-Defense. On a success, the target's communications are non-functional until the start of your next turn. Defenses A ship has an AC, a health value for its hull, another health value for its computer systems, armor, shields, an E-Defense (electronic defense) value, and an Initiative modifier. * ''AC: A measure of the difficulty of hitting a vehicle, dependent on size. This value should be close to - the ship's class. * Hull HP: The amount of punishment a vehicle can take. This should be about x the ship's class. * CPU: ''Measures the vehicle's capacity for weapons, equipment, defenses, and other systems. Damage to this value disables the vehicle gradually. * ''Armor: ''This is a flat SOAK value that reduces damage to the ship's Hull. When an attack inflicts damage to the Hull HP, you may subtract this armor value from the damage taken. Armor cannot be reduced, but an Armor-Piercing weapon ignores one or more points of this SOAK value. * ''Shields: ''Similar to armor, shields have a SOAK value that reduces all incoming damage. However, when an attack inflicts any amount of damage after the reduction is accounted for, the shield's SOAK is reduced by 1, meaning the shield negates less damage from that point forward. Each side of the ship (fore, aft, port, starboard) has its own shield, all of which are accounted for separately. * ''E-Defense: ''A measure of the firewalls and ECM systems of the ship. This value starts at 10 for the simplest of shipboard systems, but more complex computers can have higher base values. This can be upgraded when building or modifying a ship. * ''Initiative: ''Usually 0, but larger ships get a penalty to initiative. Classes 5 and higher have a -1d6 penalty, Classes 10 and higher have -2d6, Classes 15 and higher have -3d6, and Classes 24 and higher have -4d6. Damaging a Ship Ship Hull HP This value measures the integrity of the ship's hull. All damage to a ship's hull is considered to be spread across the ship, meaning that no particular system is affected more than another by damage to HP (unless that system is targeted specifically: see below). * When a ship's hull HP reaches 0, the ship begins to explode. It takes a number of rounds equal to twice its class before it detonates, leaving behind a field of debris or a wreck, as determined by the DM. * Unlike characters or creatures, you cannot deal non-lethal damage to a ship's HP. If you wish to disable a starship completely without destroying it, you must reduce its CPU to 0 points. * Characters can restore hull HP by using the Repair action. Ship CPU A ship's CPU value is a measure of its computer's processing power, and the state of all electronic systems aboard the ship. Often it is more advantageous to attack the CPU rather than the ship's hull, especially for pirates or police who wish to capture rather than destroy. * When a ship's CPU reaches 0, the ship's computer shuts down and all systems go offline. Emergency life support activates, and remains active for a number of minutes equal to twice the ship's class, or 30 minutes, whichever is higher. * A ship's CPU can be damaged either using Electronic Attacks, or by using an Ion weapon (or any attack that deals Lightning damage). * Unlike HP, CPU can take more damage after it reaches 0, making its value negative. This simply means it will take longer to restore power to the ship. * Characters can restore lost CPU using the Repair action. Targeting Specific Subsystems If a character or NPC wishes to target a specific subsystem or part of a ship when making a missile, torpedo, energy, ballistic, or electronic attack, they may do so as long as they declare their intent ''before ''rolling. If they are making a weapon attack, the weapon the character uses must have line of sight to the subsystem, and the subsystem must either be visible from outside (e.g. a cannon turret, the bridge) or the character must know where the subsystem is located beneath the hull. In such a case, follow these rules: * Roll for the attack as normal, but with a -1d6 penalty to the roll. This is accounted for ''after ''the maximum dice pool limit. * If the attack succeeds, roll damage as normal. The DM (or player, if applicable) should keep track of how much damage is specifically done targeting that subsystem for the remainder of the battle. * If the targeted subsystem takes an amount of damage equal to of the vehicle's HP, or 20% of the vehicle's CPU for electronic attacks, then that subsystem is disabled or destroyed. Note that any CPU or HP damage is deducted from the ship's overall HP and CPU. Vehicle Immunities and Conditions A typical vehicle or starship is technically an object, as described by the D&D rules, instead of a Construct. This means that all normal vehicles and objects have the following statistics: * Immunity to Charmed, Deafened, Exhaustion, Fatigued, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Stunned, Unconscious * Immunity to Poison Damage * Immunity to Psychic Damage * Resistance to Cold Damage * Resistance to Necrotic (Radiation) Damage * ''Ion Weakness. '' Lightning damage to a vehicle deals half damage to the hull HP, and half damage to the CPU. Certain conditions can be imposed on vehicles, as follows: * A vehicle can be considered Blinded if any sensors that could detect its adversary are offline and any viewports that allow view of the adversary in question are blocked or heavily obscured. * A vehicle is considered Grappled if its engines are disabled, or if it is under another effect that reduces its movement to 0, such as a Tractor Beam, or an entangling cable on a walker. * A vehicle is Incapacitated if its CPU is reduced to 0 or below. * Vehicles with cloaking devices can go Invisible. * Walkers can be considered Prone at the DM's discretion. They are typically large targets, so this might not impose disadvantage on ranged attacks (again, at the DM's discretion). * A vehicle is considered Restrained only at the DM's discretion. Scale You'd expect that a land-based walker would not be able to do much to a large, Class 5 starship. Likewise, a blaster gun held by an infantryman would be less effective against such a walker, and totally useless against a warship. In this system there are three scales of equipment: Infantry-Scale, Vehicle-Scale, and Starship-Scale. * ''Infantry-Scale: Includes things like weapon emplacements, speeders, and cars - basically, anything that is below 5 metric tons in weight. All these things are categorized as Class 1a. ** If an object of this scale moves more than 10 feet in its turn, it gains +2 to its AC against vehicle-scale attacks, and +5 against starship-scale attacks, until the start of its next turn. ** Objects of this scale are vulnerable (2x damage) to vehicle-scale weapons. ** If hit by a starship-scale weapon, an object of this scale takes 10x the damage of the attack. * ''Vehicle-Scale: ''Walkers, tanks, starfighters, airplanes, and the smallest of starships fit this category. All vehicles and starships of Class 1b through Class 1 are considered Vehicle-Scale. ** If an object of this scale moves more than 10 feet in its turn, it gains +2 to its AC against starship-scale attacks until the start of its next turn. ** Objects of this scale are resistant (½ damage) to infantry-scale weapons. An armor-piercing weapon ignores this resistance. ** If hit by a starship-scale weapon, an object of this scale takes 5x the damage of the attack. * ''Starship-Scale: ''Anything bigger than vehicle-scale is part of this category. In terms of class, this is Classes 2 and higher. ** If an object of this scale has armor and / or shields, it is immune to damage from infantry-scale attacks. ** Objects of this scale are resistant (½ damage) to vehicle-scale weapons. An armor-piercing weapon ignores this resistance. Category:Sci-Fi